A strong second period was just enough to provide the difference for the Plattsburgh State men's hockey team Friday night.
The Cardinals scored three times in the second and then held on for an important 4-2 victory over Geneseo in State University of New York Athletic Conference play at the Stafford Ice Arena.
The 13th-ranked Cardinals, unbeaten in their last 10 games, improved to 5-4 in the conference and 12-4-1 overall. The loss dropped the seventh-ranked Knights to 5-3-1 in the SUNYAC and 11-5-2 overall.
"Geneseo is a good team — they are deserving of their ranking," said Plattsburgh State head coach Bob Emery.
"It was a good win for us tonight. But, I've said all along we continue to be a work in progress."
It was a scoreless first period, despite the Cardinals having some problems against the bigger Knights.
"It was more of a feeling-out process in the first period," said Emery. "But, we were losing a lot of the one-on-one battles."
That changed, however, in the second stanza when the Cardinals took a 3-0 lead.
Kyle VanDermale opened the scoring at 3:45 when he turned back in towards the middle from the sideboards and sent a shot into the net, with Eric Satim providing a screen in front.
Then, at 7:34, Kyle Kudroch was all alone when he got the puck in front of the Geneseo net to beat Knights' goalie Cory Gershon.
Plattsburgh State made it 3-0 at 15:49. Dan Sliasis sent a wrister up top from straight on, with the teams skating four-aside.
"We played a real good second period," said Emery. "And, then we played smart for the first part of the third."
The start of the third period was delayed when the fire alarm went off in the arena.
The Cardinals maintained their three-goal lead until the 9:25 mark when David Arduin's tip-in put Geneseo on the board.
It then got real interesting at 14:16 on Colin de Jersey's rebound goal that pulled the Knights to within, 3-2.
"We had problems with our defensive zone coverage," said Emery. "It was more mental than anything."
But, any thoughts of a Geneseo comeback were dashed at the 18:41 mark on Ryan Craig's empty-net goal.
Gershon was pulled for an extra attacker with a faceoff in the Plattsburgh State end. Craig flicked the puck out of the zone where it stayed on its side and slowly curved perfectly into the net.
Josh Leis made 19 saves in net for the Cardinals, who finished with a 28-21 advantage in shots on goal. Plattsburgh State held a 13-5 edge in the second period.
"We had some players who played real well tonight and some others who didn't play well at all," said Emery. "We didn't get the leadership we needed in the third."
The Cardinals are back on the ice tonight at 7 p.m. when they host Brockport. The Golden Eagles were beaten, 7-3, in Potsdam Friday night.
—
Plattsburgh State 4, Geneseo 2
Score by periods:
Geneseo 0 0 2 — 2
Plattsburgh State 0 3 1 — 4
First period- no scoring. Penalties- Gen (too many men), 3:31.
Second period- 1, PSU, VanDermale (Satim), 3:45. 2, PSU, Kudroch (Roytman, Craig), 7:34. 3, PSU, Sliasis (Adams), 15:49. Penalties- Arduin, Gen (roughing), 14:11. Jobb, PSU (roughing the goalie), 14:11.
Third period- 4, Gen, Arduin (Elliott, Yard), 9:25. 5, Gen, de Jersey, 14:16. 6, PSU, Craig eng, 18:41. Penalties- Manley, Gen (interference), 7:37. O'Connor, Gen (roughing), 9:56. Puglisi, PSU (interference), 11:54.
Shots on goal:
Geneseo 7 5 9 — 21
Plattsburgh State 4 13 11 — 28
Goaltenders (shots-saves): Gershon, Gen, 27-24. Leis, PSU, 21-19.
Powerplays (goals-opportunities): Geneseo, 0-1. Plattsburgh State, 0-2.
